Changing of the Seasons...How do you help your visiting feathered friends making it through the upcoming winter months?

[Gyda Marie Haynes]

As we are now deep into autumn here in the northern hemisphere, and the weather is getting colder, we are now seeing different birds arriving in our backyards.  Let's share how we assist our feathered friends survive the cold and adverse winter weather.

[Gyda Marie Haynes]

These are Pine Siskins...they are coming down to lower elevations for the winter. They are a small brown finch and usually arrive in flocks at the feeders. They favor Nyjer seed and have also made quick work of the sunflower seeds from this past summer's flowers. Not to worry, they have dropped enough sunflower seeds, so I will have plenty of flowers this coming year. I feed them...they scatter seeds for me.

[Margaret Beers Oliver]

Last year we had a heated bird bath. This year we have no electric access outside the house. SO... no electric = no heated water. I am just going to have to keep water going out by hand.
I will have a feeder area just as soon as I decide where it will be. Right now they are making happy on the sunflower and Jerusalem artichoke flower heads. It seems we are all going to be feeding birds in the neighborhood and it seems to be a tradition here. I like that some of the neighbors could point out what birds were doing generations in the neighborhood. Who's bird came back, who brought babies to the water features... lots of fun!
Oh so the sparrows on the flower heads seem to be the pine siskin!

[Gyda Marie Haynes]

I had planned on taking my nesting balls down...grapevine balls filled with cotton for the birds to line their nests. Then I read somewhere that some of the birds will appreciate the soft cotten in the winter to line any shelter they find to protect them from the winter chill. Makes sense to me...the nesting balls stay outside for my feathered friends.♥

[Margaret Beers Oliver]

Hooray for getting new feeders this weekend! They have water because I have been hand hauling water to the bird bath (that will be moved closer to the house next year) and keeping it fresh and (mostly) unfrozen. Our days have been pleasant enough but the nights are a bit bitter.
We had the strangest 15 minute blizzard go through on Wednesday night. White out conditions, high winds, snow like mad, by morning the snow was all gone. Truly fifteen minutes though, by the twenty minute mark it had blown through. Did I mention high winds?

[Gyda Marie Haynes]

Margaret...We probably sent you the high winds! We had lots of damage over the entire state, and it will always move down east and south from here. Only one light snow, though, and that's gone. I need to download the pictures I took yesterday. A 15-minute blizzard sounds truly weird!